The two Democrats have been in overdrive this past week, issuing statements on proposed legislation, firing off letters to government agencies and just generally trying to garner the most attention for their activities.

Specter spoke on the Senate floor last week condemning an amendment to proposed health care legislation that would have barred people receiving federal insurance subsidies from purchasing private policies that cover elective abortions.

Specter noted there is already a provision in the bill that federal funds in subsidies to health care providers would be segregated to bar their use for abortions, "but there would be no limitation on the ability of a woman to have abortion coverage, if she chooses to, so long as she paid for it herself."

The amendment, which mirrored one in the House version of the bill, was tabled in a 54-45 vote Tuesday, effectively removing it from further consideration.

Sestak opposed the House version of the amendment and its counterpart in the Senate, while Toomey said he supported the efforts of Pennsylvania's other senator, Robert Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat who was working to find common ground on the issue.

Specter also sent a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in an attempt to keep five Governor's Veterans Outreach and Assistance Centers in Pennsylvania open past their slated closure date of Dec. 31.

"The centers provide a vital service, and I encourage the VA and Department of Labor to keep them solvent and to build upon the existing infrastructure and relationships to improve outreach and assistance to our nation's veterans," wrote Specter in his letter.

Spokeswoman Kate Kelly said Specter's office remains in contact with both departments, but there has been no change in the matter.

The letter was quickly followed by Sestak attacking Specter for "grandstanding" about the centers following years of voting against appropriations bill amendments in the Senate that would have provided billions in funding for the VA.

Thursday, a new version of the Free Flow of Information Act sponsored by Specter in the Senate was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 14-5.

The bill provides legal protection for journalists who refuse to reveal the identities of their sources, unless the information is demonstrably "essential" to the prosecution or defense in criminal cases.

Forty-nine states and District of Columbia provide some measure of legal protection to reporters, but there remains no national "shield law" for the media.

"This marks a major improvement over current procedures where journalists have been threatened, fined and jailed for appropriately protecting sources," said Specter in a release.

Sestak announced his own legislation Thursday that would authorize $100 million in competitive federal matching funds for states and local entities to establish conciliation conference programs aimed at staving off foreclosures, much like one already in place in Philadelphia that brings the mortgage holder and lender together for a "conciliation conference."

The bill would also direct $5 million to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop a database for monitoring mortgage markets.

Toomey also issued a release Thursday blasting the Democrats for their support of spending bills like the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or Wall Street bailout, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or stimulus bill, and the Auto Industry Financing and Restructuring Act, also known as the auto bailout.

Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik stressed a need to return to "fiscal responsibility" in the release, pointing to a report from Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., that detailed $7 billion worth of projects funded by the stimulus bill they deemed questionable.